Friday, April 20, 2012

Titanic Cookies - Weekend Cooking

When you hear "Titanic Cookies," does it make you think of really big cookies? If so, there are a bunch of cool pictures of Titanic Cookies at Sweet Paul Mag - follow the link :)
But, if Titanic Cookies make you think of cookies that were eaten during the Titanic (ship) era, then stay tuned!

This post was written as part of Weekend Cooking over at bethfishreads.com.
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to head over to Beth Fish Reads, grab the button, and link up anytime over the weekend. (The button is on your right...)

As you may recall, in my last exciting Weekend Cooking update, I had gotten a book called "Movie Menus," and I was going to use it to find something era-appropriate for the kids and I to munch on while watching "Titanic."

I ended up going with 'Queen Victoria's Cherry-Almond Cookies.' Here is the recipe and the information and fun movie quotes that are also on the page with the recipe! The photos are of me following along.

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"I am Queen Victoria, and I am very big in England."
Peter Sellers, The Great McConagall, 1974.

Queen Victoria had a passion for cherries. Charles Francatelli, her chef, invented these buttery, light cherry cookies, as well as cherries jubilee to celebrate the queen's diamond jubilee in 1897. The dough for these delicious cookies keeps for several days in the fridge, so these are a great make-ahead treat.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. (Libby's note - later in the recipe they are going to tell you to refrigerate the dough for at least half an hour, so it is really too early to start preheating.)

2. Grind the cherries and granulated sugar in the food processor until the cherries are finely chopped. (Libby's note - Just for fun, I decided not to use equipment that they would not have had on the Titanic. So, I did everything by hand.)

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the cherry-sugar mixture and blend until well-combined. turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap and shape into a log about 3/4 inches in diameter. Roll it on the counter to smooth the edges. Chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

4. When ready to bake, slice the dough into 1/3 inch slices and place 1 inch apart on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing.

5. Arrange on a serving platter and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Now, for the $64,000 question...did we like them? Well, that evening, they were good, but not spectacular. But, for some reason, the next day they were really, REALLY good. Like a cross between high-quality shortbread and pecan sandies. Does anyone know why? Normally baked goods do not improve with age...to say the least.

By the way, I just launched my first(!) meme/challenge thing! It is called the 2012 Book Pilgrimage. You can read more about it on the actual post, but basically I am putting this up because people are planning summer vacations now, and I thought it would be great that if people either went to literary destinations OR read books based in cities/countries to which they were traveling, it would be fun to link all our Book Pilgrimages together! The post explains that this does not require extensive or exotic travel - unless you were already planning to do that!

These cookies look great. I am fascinated by the third picture where you're mixing the ingredients. It looks like you took that one on the ocean floor inside the Titanic!! Don't know if you were looking for that effect but it's very cool!!

Yea. I couldn't figure out why that pic was the only one with a blue background but then I realized it was a bowl. In fact, your ingredients sort of look like sea life :). Anyway, I always like how you show step by step pictures which add to the fun of reading the post and whet the appetite!!!

I too am a fan of the cherry and almonds combo. My copy of Movie Menus arrived yesterday and I haven't had time to look at it. Thanks for mentioning it last week. I knew I just had to own it. :))

I have no idea why the cookies were better the second day. Very interesting. I love that you made them without modern-day equipment. Fun! I also love that they can be made ahead then cut and baked later.

I hope you like the book! One of the things that I liked was the movie quotes scattered throughout the recipes :)

Regarding the no equipment - you should have seen me chopping almonds with a knife! They are kind of round, so the first two fell on the floor - LOL! So I ended up doing the smashing garlic technique where you use the side of the knife and pound them with your fist :) I'm such a cave woman!

Cherries and almonds are one of my favorite combos...I think I'd love these. And that first picture is GREAT...what a fun idea. I didn't automatically think BIG COOKIE, but I like to see their interpretation. And what a fun idea for a meme - I actually do that automatically when traveling, anyway. :D

Those cookies look good -- and I've found that some cookies do taste better the second day -- especially spice cookies, gingerbread, fruitcake cookies, etc. Some butter cookies taste better after a day or so, too, when the flavors have had time to really meld. The only cookies that don't taste as good the next day (at least in my experience) are chocolate chip.

I'm excited that you and Beth both got the book!! I like the author's concept.

Thanks for explaining about the cookies; I thought it was the oddest thing.

I had 5 kids, plus 3 steps (7 boys and a baby girl) PLUS we had 2 homeless boys living with us for quite a while, so I do not have any experience with cookies lasting 24 hours. But now all are grown but one boy and my little girl :)

I like the 'aquatic pic' too. It looks very much like you took that photo while diving to the Titanic lol.The cookies sound awesome though. I'm not much of a cookie baker anymore (used to be) but I really should get into it again!I like the idea of these anyway! Have a good weekend!

The cookies sound wonderful, two of my favorites cherries and almonds. I live in Northern Michigan where we grow cherries and sadly they lost the cherry crop this year. We had freaky warm weather too early then killing frost. Thanks for stopping by Laura